Paul Mitchell The School East Bay

I completely understand that this is a school and for that reason there are mostly young females attending the school. But this does not excuse the total lack of professionalism that one should have in front of clients. The young lady that did my hair took almost 5 hours to complete my dye and hair trim… I understand that the time has to do with the fact that the students have to get approval from their managers before going through with everything but this time could have been cut in half if the girl wasn’t so distracted by everything else going on but my hair. Every time someone walked by she would stop what she was doing and look at what was going on and zone out for a good minute. She stood behind me with another student and complained about how long my hair was going to take, asked another student if the dye job that she did looked bad as she stood directly behind me and ran away from her chair several times to greet fellow students. If you think you’ve messed up on someones hair please step aside from the client and discuss it because discussing it right behind your client is not only very disrespectful but very frightening. My hair color ended up coming out too bright and therefore needed to be toned which was fine but the young lady working on my hair clearly had no idea what she was doing. I would highly recommend requesting a stage 2 student as you will not be an experiment for a unexperienced student. It will save you lots of extra time fixing your hair after the fact too. I am truly disappointed in the experience that I had at this salon. This is not high school and therefore shouldn’t appear like one with students standing around gossiping about clients that they have had that day. I will not recommend this school to anyone to save them the hassle that I had to endure.

Had Jade wash n style my hair. She was polite and professional. Gives a great shampoo.

Today was my first visit to Paul Mitchell. Alex cut my hair & did a fabulous job!!! All I needed was a one-​length blunt cut, but also took 2 feet of hair off to donate to Locks of Love. Alex got some tips on banding the lengths for donation by a Learning Leader, otherwise she needed no oversight whatsoever, & was comfortable & confident in everything she did. She also gave me a professional-​grade blow-​out & style. I’ve read a lot of reviews about extended time for services, but I walked in without an appointment, was in Alex’s chair in about 15 min, & was done in about an hour. Great service for such a low price, I’m a happy camper! I think I’ve found my future stylist! :)

Good work from phase 1. The girl hadn’t done a mens haircut yet, but with the help of her aid she did a good job.

What a great experience! My boss at my old job, crystalyn #2504, started here about 6 months ago. She has cut several people’s hair and colored it that we both know from work. Everything that I’ve seen that she’s done is great! She fixed a bad balayage that I got done and couldn’t be happier :)
Super cheap! It’s a learning school so be prepared for them to take their time, you aren’t in and out in a couple hours.

Went in about a month ago & got a cut and color done. I made an appointment with brittany and she did a fantastic job ! I was so happy with the finished product. She made sure that i got exactly what i wanted. I will definitely go back just for her & follow her to where ever she goes after finishing school.

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!! I went here to dye my hair blonde and it ended up orange. Terrible customer service too, all the girls who work there just sit around and gossip. I called the salon repeatedly and then finally just walked in and of course theres 3 girls at the front desk just talking ignoring phone calls and gossiping.
I understand that this is a school but i have been to other salons that have schools in them too such as DiPietro Todd. For an amazing color job it was around 40 $…Paul Mitchell charged me $ 80 to have my hair look worse than it did before I came in and furthermore they wouldn’t compensate for a color correction or even give me a refund! When i inquired to the manager she said the student was a senior student about to graduate… wow i can only imagine what the beginners’ clients come out looking like.
I would only suggest going here if you don’t care what you come out looking like… because i came out looking like an Oompa Loompa!

I’ve only gotten my hair done here once by my moms friend whos in the paul mitchell school and she did an amazing job with my ombré i asked for. next appointment in a few days hop it goes well too (:

Hello everyone! I just wanted to clarify that at Paul Mitchell: THE SCHOOL *cough cough* THE SCHOOL, the experience is not about you (the guest) it’s about the students’ EDUCATION. Each and every negative review signed a release form; you knew this was gonna happen. In all seriousness, you are no different than a doll head for practice. It’s a school, mistakes happen frequently! If they «ruined» your hair and you «hate it so much» and feel obligated to leave a nasty review, I suggest to stop being so cheap and go to a PROFESSIONAL salon with a trained professional. If your review attacks a student or a learning leader AND you mention their name, karma is coming for you.

I’ve been coming to Paul Mitchell for a few years now and I haven’t gotten any hair cut or color anywhere else. I’ve gotten a dozen of hair cuts, highlights, and full colors. The students take their time and their learning leaders guide them. I’ve never been disappointed with the services. As long as you speak up and are clear with what you want, you will get it.
I’m taking one star off because it does take A LONG time. I’ve sat for 8 hours to do highlights (with long hair), 4 hours to do a full color, and about an hour-​an hour and a half for a haircut. So just beware– you’ll be in the salon for a while.
Another thing I really like is the wash room. They wash your hair with Paul Mitchell shampoos and conditioners and it smells amazing!

I hope people understand this is a school. These students are working very hard to make sure the client gets exactly what they want. So yes, your hair cut will probably take two hours. There will probably be multiple people playing with your hair.
I called Wednesday and was able to get an appointment for the next day. When I arrived I noticed «June specials» list. I’ll have to see if that is posted online monthly. Had some good deals.
I got a cut and style. $ 15. The student and teacher both asked a lot of questions about what I was looking for and about my hair. Very friendly. I wanted to leave a tip but since it’s a school the computer doesn’t allow it. I’m not sure if it is allowed but I would have if I had cash.
I love my cut. She did a great job. It was fun to see all of the students working on their doll heads too. I plan on going back.

They did a great job on my hair. Great products will def be back! They fixed my horrible black roots and matched them to my bleach blonde hair. Very impressed by how attentive everyone was! Danielle was a miracle worker!

Cruelty free products!!! Yeahhhhho
Got a pretty good haircut but it took 2 ½ hrs. It was supposed to be a $ 5 special but miraculously it changed to $ 15 at register. The old bait and switch. Still cheap but don’t think I’ll go back since I realized she never trimmed my sideburns.
Still probably better for women’s cuts.

Paul Mitchell wasted my time and my money.
I came in two weeks ago to get my hair cut. They did a wonderful job with the cut. And I was interested in getting a perm. After talking to the stylist and her teacher, we decided to make an appointment two weeks out for a perm.
So I came in this morning, excited for my appointment. I met my stylist and she went over their list and had me sign. She went to check in with her teacher. The teacher came over and said that they might not be able to do my perm because I had colored my hair at home 7 months ago. She told me they would cut off a piece of my hair and run a test which would cost $ 8 extra to see how my hair would react to the chemicals.
15 minutes later they decided it would be better to wait until all of my colored hair has grown out before doing a perm. They offered to do a different treatment that would give my hair a little body for the remainder of the week for another $ 10. I declined and they gave me a coupon for a free conditioning treatment. I left extremely disappointed and mad. They wasted my money and my whole morning.

Fashionable and edgy haircuts for the price of two Happy Meals? Well I am sold. Well… «was». This place USED to be my go-​to for all my hair chopping needs but I’m pretty sure somebody died and turned the service to shit.
The floor is spacious and open, has very modern and trendy décor with upbeat music and flashy TVs to keep your eyes and ears entertained. The hairdressers wash your tresses and won’t let you walk out without a nice blow dry and styling at no extra cost. It’s always an awesome experience to be here… for like the first two hours. After that you just want to nap.
Since these are all real, live, breathing students with scissors, your «hairsperience» may be a hit or miss. Sometimes it may take 2 hours, sometimes it’ll be 5. It really comes down to the aptitude of the student and the availability of learning leaders on the floor because they must consult them before performing ANYTHING every time. Phase 1 are the fledglings and Phase 2 are the more experienced ones that don’t need to consult the learning leaders as often. Either way, it’s all a game of russian roulette. Males, however, have a higher chance of having a shitty hairsperience.
Although I’ve always enjoyed being the guinea pig for the students here, the joy of spontaneously walking in on a last-​minute impulse and walking out with a chic or shit moptop was ruined the last couple times I’ve tried. Before, I’d easily be accommodated without an appointment but now, I am turned way with the excuse that the last walk-​in was at [insert random times here]. I’ve called ahead at one point to ask if it’d be okay to do a walk-​in before I wasted my time, but of course they would say yes to do just that. Not a big loss though, at least now I don’t have to waste 5 hours of my life on something that should take 30 minutes. That’s a win!

I should have known better.
Went in for a color and cut, tempted by the prices (obviously). I will say that the cut was fine. Basic, adequate, whatever. The student did a good job, but she had 2 different instructors help her during, and then one made some corrections at the end. For cuts, this place is probably fine.
My color experience is barely worth one star though. I really don’t know if the girl had ever colored hair before. It’s unacceptable if they are going to be charging people to be guinea pigs for students with zero experience, because that is not how it’s presented in any of their propaganda. I really thought I was getting an appointment with someone who was in the final stages of her training. Not the case. She BURNED my scalp and it was blackblackblack, not at all brunette. I did call the next day to ask what they could do for me, and they honestly said that the only thing they would offer is for me to come back in for another color appointment, which they were still going to charge me for.
It took forever for my hair to grow out and return to an unembarassing color. By far the absolute worst hair experience I’ve ever had.

My BLOND friend just moved to Bay Area needing a simple root touch up and hair trim. She was a little low on cash and decided to go to the Paul Mitchell School in downtown Pleasant Hill.
Her appointment was at 10am and she left at 5pm… A BRUNETTE!!!
Not really the students fault, she did a good job for it being her FIRST hilighting ever! We blame the school for scheduling a newer student with that big of a task. They really need to review their scheduling procedures & have the same person that mixed the color apply the color to the clients hair. My friend had to spend a lot if money to fix the damage. Don’t do it!

DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL!
DO NOT LET YOUR FRIENDS ENROLL AT THIS SCHOOL!
DONT EVEN JOKE ABOUT GOING TO THIS JOKE OF A SCHOOL!
I’ve had 2 friends attend this «school» and neither of them learned shit. They both started out excited and eager to learn and the person who runs the school is running it into the ground.
Cons: They’re teaching method tends to be «here’s how I do nails, ok figure it out or you fail until you pass». It’s a privately owned Paul Mitchell so they can teach whatever they want and however they want… which is how to dye hair… that’s it. No nails, barely haircuts. My friends don’t even know how to French braid hair… are you kidding me?
Pros: if you fall behind because you didn’t learn how to do a task on time, you’ll still graduate as long as you fork out an extra $ 5,000. And Now you have a good joke to tell your friends!
In conclusion, this «school» sucks.

Have had good cuts here, but reception is not great. They have scheduled an appointment time for me, then when I get a confirmation call, it’s for a different day! So I left a message to try to reschedule, and they never called back.
Then several months later, they call/​email me, offer me discounts (because they need people to work on?), and when I call, they say they have to call me back. They don’t.
It’s worth it for the price, and the cuts are pretty good, but I get one good receptionist out of every three times I try to make an appointment. Sometimes not worth the hassle.

What a great deal. Vanessa (I lost her student number but she’s blonde and pretty young but talented!) She did my hair and she was great! She was super sweet and did a great job on my trim and was able to give me curls and teased my hair nice and big for me. I also added the awapuhi (sp?) conditioning treatment for a grand total of… Dun dun dunnn!!! 33 bucks!!! Wow!
I will definitely be back. Also Vanessa said she’s there almost everyday so ask for her before she’s graduated!